Opal Duty
by memihime
Summary: Jack is on Opal Duty and of course Opal isn't going to make it easy for him.


Opal was a very special bundle of happiness whose genuine innocence could bring both a smile and look of concern on anyone's face at the drop of dime. Calling her eccentric wouldn't be enough to truly encapsulate the complexity of Opal's rather gentle yet blunt personality, but of course only people who knew her could ever truly have an understanding of what the girl was like. Jack Ramsey, a fellow teammate of Opal's, was currently on Opal Duty. Opal Duty can be simply explained as "Make sure Opal doesn't get kidnapped, injured, or lost". One might think that this was excessive, but Opal was always up to something and with all sorts of delinquents roaming the academy just waiting to put crazy ideas into Opal's head there was no way anyone on Team 4 was going to leave her to her own devices. Even though today was supposed to be Malik's turn to watch Opal, he had opted to instead go out with Simon and Hinten to do something. Jack found it best to not even bother asking what those three did together these days.

Taking a deep breath, Jack released a heavy sigh as he watched Opal sit on a bench across from him in the courtyard in the front of the academy. It certainly brought back memories to when they had all met by the fountain. Hinten had essentially made a massive fool of himself in order to spur everyone into conversation with one another. The entrance ceremony seemed like so long ago now. Jack found himself lost in thought with his head tilted back and arms relaxed along the back of the bench staring at the sky. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and only a few clouds floating across the horizon. With it being such a warm day he definitely felt like he could sit outside forever, but maybe it would be more interesting to go on a walk with Opal. Certainly she didn't just want to sit outside all day on a bench. "Hey Opal…" he calmly called out to her assuming he had projected his voice enough for the girl to hear him. When he heard no reply he assumed she was just not paying attention so he called out again," Hey! Opal!" After a few seconds there was still no response which caused Jack to lower his head and look forward with slight annoyance," Ah come on, Op—"

Blinking slightly he looked forward and didn't see the petite, nineteen year old anywhere in sight. Slowly standing up and running into the middle of the walkway he looked both ways," Opal?" Spinning in what was probably a circle as he frantically looked around he suddenly grabbed his head in frustration," Oh god I lost her. Oh god….oh god." Beginning to walk semi-casually he began to try to convince himself of what had really happened. _"She just went to the bathroom. That's it. She'll be right back. Nothing bad happened to her and she'll pop up any minute now. Any…minute now.."_ Jack said to himself a few times, but still found his eyes shifting from one side of the walk way to other looking around anxiously. A few minutes passed and he stopped in between the two benches were they both were sitting only a little while ago. Reaching into his pocket he felt his phone. Maybe he should call the others? No. He couldn't do that. There's no way he was going to admit that he lost Opal. Absolutely not. There had to be a way to find her. "Opal! Opal!" he called out as he began to walk around again wondering if maybe she got distracted by talking to some plants and had just wandered off to talk to some more. Moving closer towards the taller grass and some of the garden areas he glanced around. Opal was nowhere to be seen.

"Come on Jack…think….think where could she…be…where could she be..." he said as he quickly went over in his head all the places that Opal liked to frequent and he frowned slightly. "Oh great…" As something clicked in his head he immediately made a mad dash towards the entrance and off of academy grounds. Looking around he then squinted down slightly one of the sidewalks until he spotted her. "YES!" he cheered as he then made a run after her. As he drew closer he realized that she was following something. But what? "Opal?" Jack called out to her wondering if she would notice him, but she seemed to be very intently following something and muttering something. When he got close enough he realized….Opal was following a bird. A. Stupid. Bird. Jack was more than a little bit annoyed but just as he was about to call out to Opal to put an end to this he saw a rather concerned look on her face and suddenly she screamed," MR. BIRD! GIVE ME BACK MY GRAPE!"

The sudden screaming caused the bird to suddenly begin to fly away. "MR. BIRD! YOU DIDN'T ASK! YOU ARE SO RUDE!" she shouted as suddenly Jack watched as Opal took a seed out of her pocket and tried to create a whip vine to try and capture the bird, but of course she missed. "For god's sake, Opal!" He had seen enough of this and suddenly grabbed Opal's wrist to stop her from pursing the bird," What on earth are you doing? You're making a scene." Opal looked over to Jack with a pout on her face that was heart wrenching," But Mr. Bird took my very last grape. It was my very last grape Jack and I want it back."

"All of this for a grape?" he asked astonished.

It was going to be a very long day.

Jack now found himself walking down the busy streets of Jecil trying to find a small market to buy Opal a small bag of grapes to try and make up for the last one that the bird ate. Groaning slightly as he looked around he muttered," I remember Achak mentioning there being a market around here somewhere….was it…near that bar that the others always go to? Yeah…maybe…I think…ugh…" It didn't help he was holding onto Opal's wrist to prevent her from wandering off into the busy streets and getting herself hit by someone or something. Opal happily walked along very excited to be inevitably getting a new bag of grapes, but what was more exciting was that she was being able to explore the city with Jack.

After some time of aimlessly walking around Jack finally stopped to look at his phone," Opal, stay still. I need to get a map to figure out where the market is." Letting go of her wrist he pointed to her sternly," Don't move." Opal nodded quickly a few times before crouching down beside the tree that was on the sidewalk and looking it up and down. "Hello, dear tree. How are you?" she asked curiously. Right beside her a small child look at her strangely as a mother quickly moved the boy away," Don't look at her Timmy. She's weird…" Opal frowned slightly and looked over in the direction of the leaving woman," That was very rude of you to say!" she shouted back at the woman. Jack looked over to Opal," What's wrong?" Opal sighed and then glanced back to the tree and whispered," That lady called me weird." Jack gave a small sympathetic smile before nudging her," You're not weird. Now come on. I found the market. We need to go get your grapes." Opal's spirits had been dampened by this turn of events and she waved sadly to the tree she had been talking to as she then walked silently with Jack to the market.

Once they arrived Jack placed some money on the counter along with the bag of grapes and had even found himself some cinnamon rolls to enjoy on the walk back to the academy. As he was paying for food he glanced around," Opal?" He heard no response and he called out once more," OPAL!" Still there was no response to be heard from her. Looking to the store clerk he held up a finger," One moment please while I go find my companion…" Once the clerk nodded their head he began to search through the aisles of the market only to come to the produce aisle and his heart drop.

"Opal….what….what are you doing?" he asked.

Opal turned her head and finished plopping a grape into her mouth. Three empty bags that once contained many pounds of grapes in them missing. "Yes?" she asked curiously with a blank stare.

Jack repeated ever so calmly as he slowly approached her," What…are you….doing?"

The blank stare she gave him did not change," I'm eating grapes of course. That's why we came here Jack."

"I picked up the bag of grapes for you. I walked to the register. I was paying for your grapes at the register." He explained slowly picking up the bags one by one and muttering," Why…why did you eat these grapes?"

Opal still looked completely unmoved by his questions and was quite frankly confused by what appeared to be anger gathering on his face," Jack. I like grapes. So I ate the grapes. What's there to explain?"

There were no words that Jack could say to express how he was feeling. All he could do was nod his head slowly and whisper," Yup. This was my fault. Let's go. We have to pay for these." He said as he grabbed the bags she had tossed on the floor and began to drag her away from the section. Reaching out for remaining bags of grapes Opal looked heart broken," I'll be back for you!"

After a rather inexpensive trip to the market went terribly wrong a rather grumpy Jack walked back with Opal who was happily eating her fourth bag of grapes. Jack bit into his cinnamon rolls and grumbled," Opal, in the future you should know that you can't eat things before you buy them. Hasn't anyone ever told you that before?"

"My Grandma always bought the things I ate." Opal replied simply not seeing the problem whatsoever.

"I'm not your grandma, Opal." Jack immediately replied.

"You bought food for me." Opal retorted.

"I'm not your grandma, Opal."

"But—"

"No."

There was an awkward silence and finally Jack sighed slightly thinking that maybe he had been too harsh with her. Finally he glanced over to Opal and asked gently," Hey Opal, let me have a grape."

"Jack." Opal clutched the grapes tightly to her chest," You aren't my grandma. Why would I share my grapes with you?"


End file.
